1. Field of The Invention
The present invention relates to a charging process management system in which a plurality of image input/output devices, such as copiers, scanners or printers, are connected to a broker through a network, the broker providing integrated management and services for the image input/output devices, and a service center being connected to the broker through the network.
2. Description of The Related Art
As disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 9-244974, a concept of a distributed management system using plural managers is known. In the system of the above document, a storage unit that stores basic management request processing information is incorporated into a management request broker. When management applications in the management request broker are increased or decreased or the service functions of management applications in the management request broker are changed, only the basic management request processing information of the storage unit is updated according to the changes and the need to change the other managers is eliminated. Also, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 7-7570 discloses a similar management system.
However, in the conventional systems of the above documents, the management of a charging process for software components included in each of a plurality of image input/output devices as well as the management of a charging process for the hardware of each image input/output device is not taken into consideration.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 11-157179 discloses an image processing system which receives an image forming data and a print job data, included in a specified image processing procedure, from a host computer. A control unit of the image processing system controls image formation according to the received procedure and communicates with an external record management unit according to the received procedure. Based on the communication results, the print job is controlled and the contents of the received procedure are changed so that the control procedure for forming an image is modified flexibly.
However, in the conventional system of the above document, the management of a charging process for software components included in the image processing system as well as the management of a charging process for the hardware of the image processing system is not taken into consideration.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 11-134058 discloses a charging process management system for document processing devices. In the system of the above document, an input charging unit performs a charging process according to the contents of input documents that are input to the system. A document processing charging unit performs a charging process according to the contents of the document processing performed for the input documents in the system. An output charging unit performs a charging process according to the contents of output documents that are output from the system. An integrated charging unit performs an integrated charging process that integrates the charging results of the respective charging units.
However, in the conventional system of the above document, the management of a charging process for software components included in each of a plurality of image input/output devices as well as the management of a charging process for the hardware of each image input/output device is not taken into consideration.
Conventionally, in a distributed management system in which a plurality of image input/output devices are connected to a network, only the management of the charging process for the hardware of each image input/output device has been performed. In other words, the users are charged on an as-used basis with respect to only the use of the hardware of each image input/output device. However, in many cases, the users have not been charged with respect to the use of the software components of each image input/output device. Namely, the management of the charging process for the software components included in each image input/output device is not taken into consideration in the conventional distributed management system.
Further, in the conventional distributed management system described above, when a new image input/output device is registered to the system, only the registration for the hardware of the new image input/output device has been performed. However, in many cases, the registration of software components in the new image input/output device has not been performed. Hence, the management of the charging process for the software components in the new image input/output device is not taken into consideration in the conventional distributed management system, and the management to restrict the use of the software components in the new image input/output device has been inadequate.